Canada, Our Cousins Up North.
How does one define the cuisine of Canada? What exactly is the cuisine of Canada? The second-largest country in the world seems so similar yet so different from us. In the 16th century, British and French colonizers settled on the Atlantic coast of the country. The French didn’t stick around as long as the British, but they did have a lasting impression on some of the country’s culture just take a look at Quebec + Montreal. French is the language predominantly spoken and the food fare seems to lean that way too.
Before I delve into any Canadian food talk, I’d like to address what Canada was before colonization. Canada was the home of Indigenous peoples for centuries before the British and French landed ashore. The land was home to the First Nations + Inuit people. Due to forced assimilation and cultural erasure, much of the Indigenous people’s foodways have either disappeared or much of it has been lost due to generations of tribes and families being ripped apart by the Canadian government. It’s an ugly truth that I can’t just skip over politely. If history was different I might be writing about that food today.
While researching Canadian food I was kind of stupified by the amount of maple syrup laden dishes there were and the sheer volume of articles about poutine. I've been to Canada a couple of times and I know I ate more than just poutine. Was I just going to have to throw on the apron and make my own maple candy for this newsletter? (I really hoped not.) Canada may not strike many as a place with deep enough roots to have an identity around food, but if you do a bit of digging you can hit gold in the form of Montreal smoked meats.
The city of Montreal which is situated in the province of Quebec has a long history of serving per-pound smoked meats alongside bagels, hearty rye bread, and pickled delights in Jewish delis for generations. There may not be as many of these stalwart institutions as there were 60+ years ago but there's still a beating heart left in the city for many Jewish food tours to happen.
Now back in New York we already have our own disappearing but trusted Jewish delis. From Russ and Daughters to Katz Delicatessen which was featured in the infamous scene from How Harry Met Sally, we still have some places to get a trusted bagel with lox + cream cheese. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that there’s a tiny Montreal-style Jewish delicatessen tucked away in the neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn.
Mile End Delicatessen which is named after the neighborhood in Montreal known for its Jewish comfort food is almost kinda…dare I say it…better than some Jewish delis I’ve had in New York. Please don’t kill the messenger who eats!
Let’s start off with the meats. We ordered a classic corned beef Reuben and a smoked beef brisket sandwich. The Reuben was piled high with a generous helping of smoked meat on pumpernickel bread. There was a beautiful ratio of sauerkraut to meat and the swiss cheese was wonderfully melting and oozing out of the sandwich. I appreciated the tangy Russian dressing and super thin pickles added to the sandwich. That sour punch really helps cut through the heftiness of the corned beef.
The smoked beef brisket sandwich was so tender. When I say tender, I literally mean that the meat melted in our mouths and was falling apart between the slices of rye bookends keeping it together with a flourish of hot yellow mustard. Both sandwiches featured lovely under-appreciated bread. Rye + pumpernickel are the gutsy duo that usually get thrown to the end of the bread aisle near the stiffer muesli bread which makes my inner 86-year-old Jewish grandma really sad.
We also scarfed down coleslaw, matzo ball soup + of course the Canadian All-Star poutine. The coleslaw was great because it was vinegar based, super punchy, and a tiny bit sweet. It helped cut through the richness of the entire meal. Peppered in celery seeds it was the understated hero of the day.
The matzo ball soup had several huge solid balls bobbing in the broth. The broth was a bit undersalted which I’ve become accustomed to when eating matzo ball soup and a bit oily from what I suspect was a huge helping of schmaltz added during the cooking. The chicken broth tasted very concentrated which I also attribute to possible schmaltzing.
Now let’s end with Canada’s magnum opus, poutine. If you’ve never heard of it or tried it well I ate it for you so no need to worry. Poutine which has a regrettable name and is pronounced poo-teen is a plate of french fries casually sprinkled with cheese curds and ladled over with gravy. Yes, it sounds like a clogged artery and I did feel exceptionally sluggish after eating it, but a food writer’s gotta do what a food writer’s gotta do! This poutine tasted like all poutines of Christmas past. I haven’t had a lot of them that deviate from the normal crispy french fries, curds, and gravy. This one was no exception. The fries were great and the curds (which taste very mild and are a bit rubbery in texture) tasted fine with the gravy on top. It’s an extremely indulgent dish that I don’t see myself eating more than twice a year…which is probably still enough to clog an artery.
Mile End Deli really showed me what a taste of Montreal could be like on this side of the border. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see how a niche cuisine like Jewish comfort food could be translated into its own delicious language that you’ll be speaking the praises of while you stroll several blocks away to walk off your food baby.
Cook. Eat. Repeat.
Natalie 💗✨
I had no idea bagels were a thing in Canada. Who knew? ☺️ I’ll be sure to check out Mile End next time I go home to Brooklyn. I had poutine for the first time last year when my Canadian neighbor whipped up a batch to share. Turns out there is a little shop near where I live in Tokyo that serves poutine regularly. It’s yum but definitely too decadent to eat regularly.
Mile End is amazing! I dare say Montreal style bagels 🥯 are my favorite, and Fairmount or St-Viateur are shrines.